First record of Cosmocerca podicipinus (Nematoda: Cosmocercidae) parasitizing Leptodeira annulata (Serpentes: Dipsadidae) in northeastern Brazil

Abstract

Although L. annulata is parasitized with several parasite species, there is no report of infection of a snake host with species of the genus Cosmocerca. Here we report the occurrence of C. podicipinus in one adult female of L. annulata (snout-vent length 611 mm), collected on May 26 th , 2018, in the Sete Cidades National Park (4°06′01" S, 41°42'27" W; datum WGS 84; 191 m a.s.l.), in the municipality of Piripiri, state of Piauí, Brazil. The voucher snake was deposited in the Herpetological Collection of the Universidade Regional do Cariri (URCA), under register number URCA 13739. The specimen was collected by the permanent license for capture/collection/ transport of ICMBio SISBIO nº 29613-1 and the Research Ethics Committee of the Universidade Regional do Cariri (#00026/2015). We necropsied the animal and its gastrointestinal tract, respiratory system, gallbladder, and kidneys were examined for helminth parasites. Helminths

A new species of Oxyascaris Travassos, 1920 (Nematoda: Cosmocercoidea) parasite of Leptodeira annulata (Serpentes: Colubridae) from Brazil, with a key to the species of the genus

“…Leptodeira annulata (Linnaeus), the cat-eyed snake, is widely distributed throughout Brazil and found in all Brazilian biomes ( Costa and Bérnils, 2018 ). Studies regarding this species have been focusing on foraging, diet, and reproduction, with a small number of studies addressing its helminth fauna ( Sprent, 1988 ; Mesquita et al, 2013 ; Silva-Neta et al, 2015 ; Carvalho et al, 2018 ; Ferreira-Silva et al, 2022 ).…”

“…Nematodes parasites of Leptodeira annulata are poorly known; however, some studies have already reported nematodes parasitizing this host, such as Hexametra boddaertii Baird 1860, Ophidascaris trichuriformis Vaz 1935, Raillietnema spectans Gomes 1964, Oswaldocruzia sp., Oxyascaris sp., Physaloptera sp., and Cosmocerca podicipinus Baker and Vaucher (1985) ; Sprent (1988) ; Carvalho et al (2018) ; Ferreira-Silva et al (2022) .…”